Another site asked about including SA on every figure. Hasbro's response was that articulation is figured into the "budget" for each figure. If a figure has a certain accessory, then the character would probably have less articulation. This does not make sense to me. Hmmm. MARVEL LEGENDS are huge figures, much larger than a sw figure, and have MANY points of articulation with big accessories and sell for around $7.99. The Toy Biz Lord of the Rings line were larger than sw and had MANY points of articulation and came with MANY accessories and were between $5.99-$6.99 a piece. I don't know what Hasbro is trying to pull with the articulation thing, but I am not falling for their incompetent answer regarding SA. If those other companies can pull it off, so can Hasbro! <end rant>

Slicker

06-24-2006, 01:44 PM

I would have to assume that the Marvel big wigs don't demand as much money for the likenesses of there characters as G.Lu. I would have to think that Hasbro has to pay LFL a decent sum of money for each figure sold thus cutting into there profits and forcing them to make cuts to keep themselves makin' money.

As I've stated before, I personally don't need every figure SA and neither does anyone else. How many people really play with and change the pose of there figures on a daily basis? Most just stick 'em in ONE pose and leave it as is for it to just collect dust. This whole SA BS is an excuse to complain because you know that Hasbro isn't gonna make every figure SA so it'll never die.

JediTricks

06-24-2006, 05:08 PM

Toy Biz may not have had to pay anything for the Marvel licenses, or nearly nothing, because they were owned by Marvel for a time. As for the LOTR stuff though, that was a licensed product they definitely had to pay for, and those were better paint jobs, better articulation, better sculpting, and better accessories; the only areas Toy Biz skimped were in materials, but they used MORE of them too. So why does Hasbro make this claim? Here are some likely possibilities:
They paid way more for the SW license than was reasonable;
Their materials are better quality but cost significantly more;
They are lying and just want to save money;
Hasbro's profit margin is significantly higher;
Their manufacturing costs are somehow way way higher;
Their moldmaking costs are somehow higher even though the product is smaller and less detailed.That's all I can come up with, and none sticks out as more likely than any other. Hasbro's behavior about articulation is very strange, but fits well within their overall behavior in stuff like this because they often act strange.

figrin bran

06-24-2006, 08:14 PM

haha, i like how you put it JT! in a nutshell, hasbro "often acts strange" :p

TheDarthVader

06-24-2006, 11:50 PM

Here is my reason: Hasbro will eventually go back and add articulation and better paint so that we will buy our 10th Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, or Chewbacca.

Banthaholic

06-25-2006, 11:38 AM

Here is my reason: Hasbro will eventually go back and add articulation and better paint so that we will buy our 10th Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, or Chewbacca.
You hit the nail on the head. They have the line till 2018, what a better way to make us want more. If they give us the ultimate everything, there is no use to by any further reincarnations of those figures. But by gradually building up the ultimate, it'll keep us coming back and back.

Darth Cruel

06-29-2006, 08:49 PM

I was going to post some numbers here based on what i could find about the license. It turned out to be so interesting that I think I will do some in-depth research and post a more comprehensive look at the ungodly amounts of money Hasbro has gambled and lost on in this license. Just a taste...in 1998 Hasbro agreed to 600 million dollars to old George over 9 years for the license because they expected to make 1 billion in 1999 alone with the movie coming out. Ummm....they didn't come close. And the new agreement only garantees 85 million (and as much as 110 million in stock options) for the entire new agreement through 2018. I can't wait to put this story together and post it.

dindae

06-29-2006, 10:33 PM

For comparison's sake they will spend $205 for 5 years for Marvel. This covers $70 for Spiderman 3 and $35 for Spiderman 4. The remaining $100 million I guess cover Fantastic Four 2, Marvel Legends, Ghost Rider, Captain America, and whatever else they can come up with.

JediTricks

06-30-2006, 06:19 PM

Part of the problem in the question of how much they spent is that they gave like 5% of their stock to Lucas as part of the payment, so as their stock dwindles so does his payment.